“She’s completely smitten with them. It’s as if she doesn’t even notice that they look like Falcones.”
“They are her children.”
“I know I shouldn’t say it, but I wish she would have never gotten them,” Ines whispered.
I wasn’t sure if Ines had exaggerated about the similarities but when I saw the twins for the first time two days later, it took effort not to show my shock.
Their hair was pitch black and their eyes impossible dark. They didn’t look like Cavallaros or Miones. They were Falcones, at least by blood, but they’d learn to be part of our family, of the Outfit.
Later that day, I found Fina in the nursery with her twins, bent over their shared crib, a soft smile on her face. She looked up briefly when I entered before she turned her attention back to her kids.
“I know what everyone’s thinking,” she said fiercely. “I’m not blind. You all want them gone.”
I shook my head. “No, that’s not true, Fina. It’s difficult for your family to accept who their father is, that’s all.”
Fina chuckled joylessly. “Why can’t they accept it when I can? Why can’t they see them for what they are? Innocent children.”
I stopped beside her. Nevio and Greta slept close together, their hands touching. They had each other and they’d need their bond to brave the judgment of our world. “It’ll take time.”
“I’ll protect them no matter what it takes.”
I squeezed her shoulder. “You are their mother, of course you will.”
A knock sounded and Dante poked his head in. “Dinner’s ready.” He came in, his gaze striking the children before he focused on Fina. He couldn’t bear looking at them. I hadn’t noticed it before.
“I’ll be down in a bit,” Fina said with a tense smile.
I followed Dante outside and linked our fingers, facing him. “What was that?”
His brows rose. “What?”
“You couldn’t even look at the babies.”
Dante’s mouth tightened. “If you’d come face to face with Remo Falcone, and then looked at Nevio… damn, Val. That boy’s going to look just like that bastard.”
“But he isn’t Remo. He’s Nevio Mione. He’s a part of our family, a part of the Outfit.”
“I’m not sure the boy can ever be part of the Outfit, at least not in a position of importance. My men would never accept him.”
My eyes widened. “Don’t tell Fina. Not yet. She’ll never forgive you if you punish Nevio for his father’s sins.”
“I’m not punishing him, but I have to keep the Outfit in mind. A child of Remo Falcone will cause too much discord. Not to mention that the Falcone blood carries madness.”
I pursed my lips. “I think you let your hate for Remo overrule your logic, Dante. Don’t lose yourself in useless fury.”
He smiled darkly. “Val, whenever I think of Remo, and that is every time I look at Serafina or her children, all I am is pure rage and thirst for revenge. I won’t rest until I get my vengeance.”
I swallowed hard because his eyes showed absolute determination. Nothing I could say would change it. “Don’t allow it to destroy everything we care about.”
“I won’t allow it to destroy anything.”
* * *
Months passed and we returned to a tentative routine in Chicago. Dante and his men were diligently working on revenge but Dante kept his promise.
The kids and I remained untouched of his pursuit of revenge, and even Dante seemed calmer and less haunted.
I thought we might be on a good way toward mutual ignorance with the Camorra.
Maybe I had been foolish.
Any dream of peace, of normalcy was shattered when Dante, Danilo, Pietro and Samuel got their hands on Adamo Falcone, Remo’s youngest brother.
Shortly after Dante got the news about the capture, he got ready to leave for the safehouse where they kept the boy. A boy, only fifteen.
Dante was withdrawn, lost in his thoughts as he put on his jacket over his gun and knife holster. A knife he’d use today?
“Dante,” I said quietly. “The boy is fifteen. Serafina said he never hurt her.”
“He is not innocent, Val,” Dante growled, his eyes flashing angrily. “He’s part of the Camorra. He is a Falcone. You don’t know the first thing about this family. If you did, you wouldn’t even consider asking me to spare Adamo Falcone.”
His anger hit me unexpectedly.
I nodded slowly. He was right, I didn’t know anything about the Falcones except for the rumors making the rounds and the few things Serafina had said since she’d been freed. What I knew was that Adamo would pay for a crime he hadn’t committed yet. Maybe he’d become as cruel as his brothers, but right now he wasn’t.
“Leonas will be inducted in three years, will that make him guilty for your crimes as well?”
Dante tensed. “That’s not the same.”
Wasn’t it? I didn’t know. In less than two weeks Leonas would turn nine, still a little boy in my eyes, but for our enemies he was a future Capo in the making, a potential enemy.
“Dante?” Pietro called, his voice ringing with open eagerness.
I shuddered.
“I need to leave now. We can continue this discussion tonight.”
He hesitated then he came toward me and kissed my lips before he stalked out. Slowly I walked after him but I stopped halfway down the staircase. Samuel gave his father a grin which he returned. Their hunger for revenge was tangible. Dante didn’t even bother hiding the dark hunger for blood.
I clutched the banister, feeling a little lost.
Before they left, Dante looked up once more but his eyes didn’t reflect conflict. Adamo Falcone wouldn’t be granted any mercy. He’d suffer in his brother’s stead.
I headed downstairs and into the living room where I found Ines, Sofia and Anna with the twins. Nevio was crawling over the floor while Greta clung to Ines. The little girl looked a bit lost without Fina.
“I don’t like that Fina’s going to be there when they torture that Falcone boy.”
Anna gave me a wide-eyed look. I’d hoped she wouldn’t find out about the torture but Ines was lost in her worry and didn’t even realize how much she revealed in front of our girls.
“Fina said the boy is not much older than Sofia and me, only fifteen,” Anna said.
“He’s a Camorrista,” Ines said. Nevio crawled toward me, and I picked him up. His dark eyes flashed up to me, and I tried to imagine how Dante and the other men could see only bad when they looked at this boy.
I sighed. “I don’t know Adamo Falcone.”
“Does he deserve to be tortured?” Sofia asked curiously.
Ines shrugged. “Fina didn’t deserve to suffer either.”
Anna looked at me for answers. I wasn’t sure what to say. Sofia and she were twelve, and they suffered the consequences of Remo’s actions as well. Both were homeschooled, shielded from the outside world, their golden cages more restraining than mine had ever been as a young girl.
Steps rang out and Santino appeared, dragging a struggling Leonas after himself.
“What’s going on?”
“I heard noises from the weaponry, found him stuffing his pockets with guns as if he was gearing up for war,” Santino said with a curl of his lip, releasing Leonas who sent him a glower.
Santino had taken over as Anna’s bodyguard this summer. Dante had been wary of having a former Enforcer close to our daughter but eventually he’d considered him the best option to guarantee Anna’s safety when he wasn’t around.
“Leonas, what is that all about?”
Leonas shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pants. I narrowed my eyes at him. “I just wanted to help Dad deal with the Falcone bastard.”
“Language,” I said sharply. “And how did you want to do that?”
Again that stubborn shrug. “Take a cab to the safehouse and help them torture him.”
I stared down at my little son, my almost nine-year-old, trying to understand what had happened. This war had taken his innocence too quickly, being surrounded by men thirsting for vengeance and blood. “You won’t ever touch a gun without permission again. Understood?”
Leonas’ eyes widened marginally at my tone. I’d never raised my voice like that against him before. He nodded eventually.
“Thank you, Santino,” I said. He nodded then turned on his heel and left. He’d return to his guard post until we left the house.
Anna rolled her eyes. “You’re an idiot. Do you really think Daddy would have allowed you to stay?”
“He knows I can handle stuff unlike you.”
Anna crossed her arms over her chest. It was a constant argument between the two that Leonas went to school while Anna had to stay home. Sofia nudged her and whispered something in her ear. They got up and hurried away.
I sighed, glancing down at Nevio who squirmed in my hold. Ines sank down on the sofa with a sleeping Greta, looking tired.
“When will we return to Chicago?” Leonas asked.
“Soon,” I said. I put Nevio down on the floor and bent down to be at eye level with Leonas. “Please don’t talk like that in front of your sister and Sofia again. I don’t want any of you to think about what Dad does in his job.”
Leonas tilted his head curiously. “Mom, I’ll be Capo,” he said with absolute certainty and as if that settled the matter.
I smiled wistfully. “I know but until you are initiated you are only my little boy.”
He scrunched up his face as I pulled him against me and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Mom,” he protested. When I didn’t release him, overcome with emotions, he eventually softened and hugged me. For some reason it felt as if he was consoling me.
Dante
Valentina was already in bed when I returned home that night. My body still hummed with adrenaline from the torture and sweet satisfaction that Remo would hand himself over tomorrow.
I’d dreamed about this day since the moment Remo had kidnapped Serafina. Vengeance was close now.
After checking on Anna and Leonas, I slipped into bed with Val. She turned around and moved closer. Despite our argument today, I felt the same need to hold her against my body. I pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“And?”
“Remo agreed to exchange himself for his brother.” Even I could hear the grim triumph in my voice.
“He must know you’ll torture and kill him brutally but still he hands himself over for his brother?” I could hear the confusion in Val’s sleep-heavy voice. “I thought he didn’t care for anyone.”
“He does for his brothers,” I said neutrally. Val had a tendency to try to see things from two sides, to see beyond someone’s faults, but with Remo, this was pointless.
“You’ll enjoy it, won’t you?”
I wasn’t like some of my men who hungered for the thrill of torturing others, but with Remo I’d enjoy every second of his agony. I brushed my nose along Val’s throat. I didn’t reply, because Val wanted to hear something else. My calm, controlled exterior often let her forget my less than civil nature, the depravity I kept hidden from her and our children and would always do. “Remo won’t receive mercy from either of us.”
Pietro, Samuel, and Danilo were just as eager for bloodshed as me. We’d bring Remo to his knees together, would relish in his demise, and once he was dismembered and purged from this world, we’d figure out a way to leave the burden of his actions behind, to move on.
* * *
I drove the car to the meeting point, Danilo beside me. Pietro and Samuel sat on either side of Adamo who hunched forward, breathing heavily.
When I parked the car, he looked up and his eyes met mine in the rearview mirror. Those damn dark Falcone eyes. Only fifteen but he looked like he couldn’t care less if I put a bullet in his head or not.
“Time to exchange you for your fucking brother,” Samuel said, voice tight with eagerness.
“You don’t know anything about Remo if you think he’ll give you what you want,” Adamo muttered.
“And what do we want, Falcone?” Danilo growled.
“Break him. But my brother is unbreakable. You should have kept torturing me. That would have been more fun.”